Lymphedema is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system. Lymphedema occurs when an excess of lymph, a fluid consisting of disease and infection fighting white blood cells along with excess fluid and proteins, accumulates in an area of the body, such as an arm or a leg. The condition can be noticed by a swollen arm or leg.
Lymphedema is frequently experienced after lymph node dissection, surgery, or radiation therapy, in which damage to the lymph system is caused during the treatment of cancer. One common cause of lymphedema in women is breast cancer treatment. Lymphedema is prevalent in the upper limbs after breast cancer surgery or lymph node dissection. The condition is characterized by a swelling in the arm on the side of the body in which the surgery is performed. The swelling is caused by a compromised lymphatic system in which the lymph fluid is not recirculated back to the bloodstream and then back to the body's tissues as it should be. As fluids within the arm tend to flow downward through the limb, swelling of the arm can be exacerbated by the body position of the affected person. For many lymphedema patients, extended periods of many mundane activities, such as simply lying down or sitting, can cause fluid buildup within the arm and thus swelling.
One of the common therapies to reduce lymphedema induced swelling is elevation of the affected limb. In the case of a swollen arm, raising the affected arm above the height of the body will frequently assist the flow of lymph back into the bloodstream and will result in reducing the swelling of the arm.
Although some devices have been proposed for raising the arm in order to reduce lymphedema induced swelling, they typically suffer deficiencies. Some proposed devices for example require a patient to bend their arm at the elbow, which is not ideal as this tends to constrict the flow of lymph through the arm. Other devices provide a solution for elevating the arm while lying down but do not offer a means of elevating the arm while sitting. A person suffering from lymphedema in an arm can find the sitting posture especially hard to deal with, for example, when driving a car on a long trip.
Thus there is a need for an improved device for elevating an arm in order to assist in efficiently draining the lymph fluid back to the bloodstream. The arm elevation device of the present invention provides a comfortable means of keeping the arm of a lymphedema sufferer elevated either while sitting or lying down. The arm elevation device while in use provided unexpected beneficial results in reducing swelling of the arm by minimizing the amount of bending or crooking of the affected arm at either the elbow or the armpit.